---
title: "Advocacy service for children and Young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership."
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "WEST LOTHIAN COUNCIL"
published: "2021-08-27"
---

# Advocacy service for children and Young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership.

Buyer: WEST LOTHIAN COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726

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## Summary

West Lothian Council is seeking to provide an advocacy service for children and young people, specifically those aged 5 to 21 and up to 25 for individuals receiving continuing care. The procurement method is an open procedure, with the current procurement stage being complete. This initiative comes with a budget of £240,000 and is intended to serve various locations, primarily within the West Lothian geographical area. The contract was officially signed on 13th July 2021, following a bidding period which concluded on 8th June 2021.

This tender presents an excellent opportunity for organisations specialising in social services, particularly those oriented towards children's advocacy or support for young individuals with disabilities or mental health challenges. Companies ideally suited to compete would be those with a solid understanding of children's rights and the capacity to navigate complex social care requirements. As the service is designed to cater to a diverse demographic, including looked-after children and those facing additional support needs, businesses should demonstrate experience in providing tailored advocacy services across various communication methods.

## Notice

The provision of advocacy services for a range of young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. both within and out with the council area. The service will also be required to provide advocacy services to looked after children with learning disability or mental health issues

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Provision of advocacy services for Looked after children and young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. both within and out with the council area. The service will also be required to provide advocacy services to looked after children with disabilities or additional support needs The service will be expected to use a wide range of communication methods including face to face (preferred), video conference, telephone or other method preferred by the child. It is expected that the advocacy service will deliver the service in the following areas : - Looked after children, including those in residential accommodation (some of which will be out with the Local Authority area). - Those in Kinship care or Foster Care - Looked after at home - Looked after Children with Disabilities or additional support needs - Children involved with conferences - Access to an advocate will be made available for all children attending key planning meetings (LAC reviews) The advocacy provider should have a strong understanding of children's rights or can show how the service aims to ensure staff gain this understanding. This will allow them to both inform the child about those rights and to support children in taking decisions about how they want to exercise their rights. The service should also be able to recognise and understand the rights and responsibilities of a child's parents. The service should be mindful that parents themselves may have a need for advocacy support in order to express their wishes in relation to decisions affecting their children and should ensure that in the course of provision that parents are signposted to the appropriate services to assist. Disabled children and young people may have a range of complex needs which include communication support and support for cognitive ability and capacity to understand. The service should have experience of working with children or adults with particular needs (such as children with autism, a learning disability or a mental health need) or should be able to show how it can ensure that this can be met. Whilst service provision will predominantly be within West Lothian, there will be requirement on occasion to support children living out with the Local Authority area, mainly those in residential accommodation. It is the intention that the service provided will be a proactive one. Advocates will be informed of a child becoming looked after and will then be required to introduce themselves to the child and offer to make themselves available as the child's advocate should this be required. The advocate will be expected to contact the young person if certain circumstances arise in the child's care e.g. attendance at a LAC review or children's hearing. It will be incumbent on the Advocate to maintain regular contact and build up a relationship with the young person during the course of the contract allowing the young person to become comfortable in engaging with the advocate. For information presently 450 children are looked after by WLHSCP The service will be available throughout the year with the exception of the main public holidays This tender has a fixed budget so will be evaluated 100% on the quality questions, with bidders requiring to confirm they can provide the service for the budget available. Re: SPD Q3D.1, 3D.2 and 3D.3 Bidders should answer these questions on Environmental, social and labour law in relation to compliance with the regulations covering Scotland and the UK.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG425664 |
| Notice type | PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Planning, Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 27 Aug 2021 |
| Submission deadline | 8 Jun 2021 |
| Future notice date | 1 Mar 2021 |
| Award date | 13 Jul 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Tender will be issued in two years when new budgets are set |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £240,000 |
| Lots value | £240,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £240,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | WEST LOTHIAN COUNCIL |
| Locality | LIVINGSTON |
| Post town | Edinburgh |
| Postcode | EH54 6FF |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM1 East Central Scotland |
| ITL 3 | TLM14 West Lothian |
| Local authority | West Lothian |
| Electoral ward | Livingston South |
| Westminster constituency | Livingston |
| Delivery location | TLM78 West Lothian |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | WHO CARES? SCOTLAND |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 27 Aug 2021 at 00:00 - Award - PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG425664
- 19 May 2021 at 00:00 - Tender - PCS Notice - Website Contract Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAY415470
- 1 Feb 2021 at 00:00 - Planning - PCS Notice - Website Prior Information Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB405448

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB405448
  Advocacy service for children and Young people under 18 years - The provision of advocacy services for a range of young people (up to 18 years) both within and out with the council area. The service will also be required to provide advocacy services to looked after children with learning disability or mental health issues.
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAY415470
  Advocacy service for children and Young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. - The provision of advocacy services for a range of young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. both within and out with the council area. The service will also be required to provide advocacy services to looked after children with learning disability or mental health issues
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG425664
  Advocacy service for children and Young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. - The provision of advocacy services for a range of young people from the age of 5 to 21 and from 22 to 25 for those receiving continuing care who are the responsibility of West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. both within and out with the council area. The service will also be required to provide advocacy services to looked after children with learning disability or mental health issues

## Notice URLs

- http://
- http://www.westlothian.gov.uk
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726
- https://www.publictendersscotland.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/
- https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/court-locations/livingston-sheriff-court-and-justice-of-the-peace-court
- https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000642726.json.